GONZAGA, Francesco - De Origine Seraphicae Religionis Franci - Lot 27

GONZAGA, Francesco - De Origine Seraphicae Religionis Franciscanae, eiusque progressibus, de regularis observantiae institutione, forma, administratione ac legibus, admirabilique eius propagatione. Rome, Domenico Basa, 1587. In-folio, (1) f., 1363 (21) pp, lacking 3 introductory ff. including title-frontispiece and portrait of Saint Francis, pages 289-290 and 1063-1064, 99 full-page intaglio engravings out of 103, some light spotting and numerous yellowing marks, tan calf from the ep. on wooden boards, cold-stamped decoration on covers with several frames of foliage and bearing the figures of Saint Paul, David and Isaiah, ribbed spine decorated with cold-stamped wires, gilt and chased edges, remains of chased brass clasps on first board, lower cuff remaining (Germanic-type monastic binding). SABIN VII, 27790. First edition dedicated to Pope Sixtus V, written by the Order's Minister General, Francesco Gonzaga. It traces the history and expansion of the Franciscan Order and its spirituality, and is remarkable for the details of recent settlements in Central and South America, more specifically in Brazil, Nicaragua, Peru, Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, St. Thomas and Santo Domingo. For New Spain, for example, Gonzaga used unpublished sources that he himself translated from the Spanish of missionary Geronimo de Mendieta (1525-1604). They relate in particular to the Franciscan province of the Holy Gospel, and are dated 1585. Mendieta lists the Franciscan convents in his province, as well as the miracles that have taken place in certain parishes and the holy men who rest there. The plates depict saints and illustrious figures in baroque frames adorned with grotesque figures or caryatids.